Southern California -- this just in

LAFD responding to four arson fires simultaneously set

January 2, 2012 | 2:37
am

This post has been updated. See the note below for details.

Los Angeles firefighters are responding to four reported arson fires this morning at carports in the Hollywood Hills and Laurel Canyon areas. All the fires are believed to been started simultaneously, officials said.

The fires broke out shortly after 1:30 a.m., said Capt. Jaime Moore, an LAFD spokesman.

"We have four fires that we are responding to simultaneously. They all came out within minutes of each other," Moore said. "I have arson investigators on the scene of each one."

Moore confirmed the fires to be in the 1700 block of Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Hollywood, the 8500 block of Eastwood Road in the Hollywood Hills, the 4300 block of Greenbush Avenue and the 4200 block of Sunnyslope Avenue in Sherman Oaks.

No injuries have been reported, Moore said.

It was unclear early Monday if the fires were connected to a spate of arsons in the Hollywood area.

Officials said Sunday that they have linked at least 39 fires to that case. At a news conference Sunday morning, officials said many of the fires have been started in cars and in some cases spread to carports, garages and apartment buildings.

They have declined to say what evidence ties the cases together or give more information about how the fires were set. Law enforcement sources told The Times that detectives were concerned that releasing more information could prompt the arsonist or arsonists to change tactics or could encourage copycats.